the world without end
by Seto's Darkness
Summary: Iwaizumi and Oikawa (was, is, will) (always) be together. (the life of Iwaizumi and Oikawa at ages 7, 17 and 27) (IwaOi) (part 1)


**Title**: the world without end  
><strong>Summary<strong>: Iwaizumi and Oikawa (was, is, will) (_always_) be together. [IWAOI]  
><strong>Content<strong>: This is actually a Final Haikyuu! Quest-inspired/based, canon-divergent AU.  
><strong>Notes<strong>: This is a very self-indulgent fic that has all the things I want to see on my IwaOis :p It would be awesome if there will be others who would enjoy reading this too! ;)

••• [**2013**] •••

"Iwa-chaaaaaan!"

At seven years old, Iwaizumi is knowledgeable and not-gullible enough to know that a brat like Oikawa doesn't actually possess a megaphone lodged in his throat – but there are still some choice times when he thinks that Oikawa had gone ahead and done the impossible act of swallowing a huge speaker.

Nevertheless, noisy or not, Iwaizumi tries his best to be a good friend.

"What is it, dumbass Oikawa?"

_Tries_.

"So mean!" Oikawa doesn't really have a leg to stand on regarding that accusation, because Iwaizumi isn't being mean, he's being honest. "I was going to tell you about a super-duper secret, but I guess not!"

"That's more than fine with me." And it's more because Iwaizumi's sure that Oikawa would either end up blabbing that secret (if there's even any—Oikawa enjoys fluffing up his importance, after all) or Oikawa would even be the one to force Iwaizumi to learn the so-called secret so he could have someone to gossip with.

"How dare you turn down my offer to share my secret, Iwa-chan?!" As expected, Oikawa pouts a picture-perfect pout. But since Iwaizumi had the (mis)fortune of growing up with said brat, he has long been immune to the displays of cuteness. As usual, Oikawa's pout dissolves to a boyish grin soon afterwards. "When I grow up, I'll be a _king_ then I'll make sure that I'll order you to _alwaaaays_ listen to me and you can't insult me and you will carry me every day."

"You'll be the king of trash." Iwaizumi has no problems imagining Oikawa lording over things-places-people. The Oikawa of present is already terrifying enough—Iwaizumi shudders to think about a grown-up Oikawa showing off his pout and commanding the suckers surrounding him to obey his every whim. "And I'll just drop you on your head—like what I did yesterday. You'll be too heavy to carry."

…Not that Iwaizumi won't try to still carry Oikawa – if that's what the brat _really_ wanted.

"Oww, don't remind me! I had a bruise on my knee from that!" The bruise isn't as painful or as big as Oikawa complained about it to be, but Iwaizumi still feels a twinge of guilt at that. "What would you do if you ruined my beautiful face?"

"That might actually be an improvement—"

"MEANIE!"

"—and I gave you my limited-edition band-aids, right?"

"And you even kissed it better!" Oikawa coos like old Matsukawa-san, the elderly florist down the road. "Iwa-chan was soooo macho yesterday!"

"It was only because you wouldn't shut up." And if a seven-year-old Oikawa is terrifying, a crying seven-year-old Oikawa is a downright abomination. Iwaizumi's ears rang for two hours straight after Oikawa's spectacle yesterday.

"Hmph! Iwa-chan is just too shy to admit that he doesn't want me hurt." Oikawa crosses his arms over his chest, pouting again.

Iwaizumi looks longingly at the inflatable pool in front of him, almost wanting to threaten to drown Oikawa in it just to make him stop being so right all of the time. And he _knows _it too. "Continue talking and I'll fill your room with bugs."

"Ewwww, how b-b-barbaric!" Oikawa's brown eyes widened comically and there's nothing artificially-cute about the motion. It's genuine childish fear and Iwaizumi likes that look better than Oikawa's made-up pretty-boy pouts. "You won't actually do that, would you?"

Iwaizumi keeps silent, trying to copy the evil smirk that he saw from the cartoons the other day. It's a safe one to copy – because Oikawa never watches cartoons on Sunday mornings since he enjoys sleeping in, right after scaring himself to sleep over the horror movies that they both sneakily watch on their Saturday sleepovers on Iwaizumi's empty house.

Oikawa scrunches his face at Iwaizumi's expression. Iwaizumi tries not to falter, but it's hard if he doesn't even know if he's doing it right. His mother (when she's actually not busy working) always scolds him for looking so angry most of the time, but that's just how his face usually looks. It's not like he's doing anything special before. It's not like his mother sees him much outside of the pictures that Oikawa forces him to be in.

"…Hmm." Oikawa ends up saying after a few moments of staring at Iwaizumi's impression of an evil smirk. "You kind of look good like that, Iwa-chan. You give out that 'I'm gonna bully you!' aura."

"I'm not a bully," Iwaizumi interrupts, losing his resolve to stay quiet to keep Oikawa on his toes. Also, bullies are bad according to his mother.

"Once I am king, you'll be my knight and you'll bully everyone for me, right?" Oikawa grins, apparently satisfied with the thought of having Iwaizumi torment others on his behalf. "And you'll protect me and kill all the bugs, then give me milk bread every day and then guard me while I sleep."

Iwaizumi thinks that there's not much difference then, between the future that Oikawa is thinking about and their present. After all, Iwaizumi does those things for the other brat now.

"You're going to be such a childish king, huh?"

"HEY! I'm going to be _awesome_!"

"Forgetful too—what was that about your secret?"

"Oh yeah!"

Oikawa claps, the sound rising above the distant sounds of other kids playing in their neighborhood. The sun is still fairly high in the sky, since it's just the early afternoon, but even the sun at noontime is useless against the brightness of Oikawa's grins – especially when he's excited about something. Iwaizumi sweats a little bit at the excited expression on his friend's face – the coolness of the air on Oikawa's house's garden isn't enough to dampen Oikawa's spirits at all.

"I have a _biiiig_ secret to tell you, Iwa-chan!"

"I thought so."

"Promise not to tell anyone?" Oikawa actually lowers his voice to a whisper. Iwaizumi wonders if the world is ending – in the very long time that he's known Oikawa, the other kid has never been able to keep his voice down.

"And who will I tell?"

"Good point. Meanie Iwa-chan doesn't have any other friends except for me, after all!" Oikawa sounds happy about that. Iwaizumi bops him on the head for that comment, but he's happy that way too. Oikawa already takes up so much of his time, allowance and patience – it wouldn't be fair to his sanity if he has another friend on top of this one.

"Just get to the point, idiot."

It's still a long time until either Oikawa's parents or Iwaizumi's aunt arrive, but Iwaizumi figured that it will be harder to get Oikawa to actually stop fidgeting about this big secret if others are nearby.

"…I saw an _alien_."

Oh for goodness' sake.

"That's your big secret?"

"It's awesome, isn't it?"

"It's dumb. Dumbass Oikawa."

"H-H-Hey!"

"Aliens don't exist."

Iwaizumi's rather good with science, unlike Oikawa who drools during class then wipes his face against Iwaizumi's sleeves. Iwaizumi also loves watching science shows and he enjoys reading articles on the Internet (totally not adult stuff – no matter what Oikawa shrieks about), unlike Oikawa who falls asleep within the first five minutes of a documentary, then spends the rest of the time either munching on something and spilling crumbs all over Iwaizumi's shorts or using Iwaizumi's any available limb as a pillow.

The point is—Iwaizumi knows his science and Oikawa doesn't, which is why Oikawa is a dumbass who still believes in things like aliens.

"They do too!" Oikawa points to the design on the band-aid that he got from Iwaizumi yesterday. "If not, then how did they know how aliens look like?"

"It's all imagination, idiot. All made-up." Unlike Oikawa's pouty faces, alien designs are easy to copy and spread to other people. "You should have listened to Yoshida-sensei better."

"Egh, but Yoshida-sensei is too wrinkly! And he speaks _toooo_ slowly!"

"At least he knows that aliens don't exist."

"They do! I saw one on my way back from the convenience store earlier today."

"Did you sneak out to buy more milk bread again?"

Iwaizumi doesn't like Oikawa going off to the convenience store alone, because he takes forever (he gets cooed upon by various shoppers, then he gets too distracted by the sweets that he shouldn't be eating because they will rot his mouth and make his teeth all black like a witch's) to return. Oikawa also has the annoying habit of buying new flavors of some chips that Iwaizumi has privately thought about wanting to eat, which is the other's own way of apologizing in advance for having the nerve to use Iwaizumi's allowance to buy said junk anyway.

"That's not the point!" Oikawa cries with crocodile tears on his eyes, which means that his guess is spot-on. He gives the other boy a noogie for his efforts.

"I really did see an alien!"

"Yeah, yeah," Iwaizumi doesn't like arguing with Oikawa for too long when it comes to these matters – because while Oikawa is a dumbass, he can also be quite stubborn. It's not worth the hassle to keep on quarrelling about stupid things.

"It even waved at me!"

Random strangers waved at Oikawa all the time.

"You probably tried to flirt with random strangers."

"I did not!"

"Your eyes might be going bad."

"Don't say unlucky things! I don't want to wear glasses and look nerdy!"

"Again, it will probably be an improvement."

"Hmph!"

Iwaizumi privately thinks that glasses will probably look great on Oikawa – but then again, even if he's covered in grime, he still looks great, thanks to his annoyingly good looks. There's no point voicing those thoughts out because Oikawa already knows anyway and it will just help inflate the other's already-big head.

Nevertheless, Iwaizumi will start reading on articles about eyeglasses and keeping one's eyesight in top shape. Maybe tomorrow evening, because Oikawa has already expressed his desire (very noisily) to stay over tonight.

"Oh no!"

"What is it _this time_?"

"I'm going to miss the game!"

"What game?"

"The volleyball one I told you about, silly!" Oikawa's interested in a lot of things, but it looks the volleyball one is going to last, even if he's always whining about hitting himself with the ball. "Iwa-chan's becoming an old man~ "

Iwaizumi stands up from his perch on the porch and delivers a kick on Oikawa's backside. He ignores the other's whines about getting hurt. He walks into the kitchen to grab some snacks from the fridge (Oikawa really bought a lot from the convenience store earlier) and looks back at Oikawa who's following him with an exaggerated limp.

"Get some more milk bread, Iwa-chan!"

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, but obediently grabs two more packets. Oikawa messes around with the glasses from the countertop, very confident with where's everything located, despite this being Iwaizumi's family's house.

Oikawa makes two short trips between the kitchen and the living room, shuttling the drinks and other stuff that he has moved into Iwaizumi's house. Iwaizumi had already told him so many times before that he should stop littering his things on other people's houses, but it has never worked against someone as stubborn as Oikawa.

"Hurry, Iwa-chan!"

Iwaizumi is great with sports and outdoor activities, but he mostly enjoys laughing at seeing Oikawa's face when he's trying to show off and gets a volleyball to his face instead. It's good to see Oikawa interested in other activities other than outright pissing Iwaizumi off.

Even at a young age, it's obvious that Oikawa's going to become someone great and it's just a matter of getting him to choose one thing to focus on. At this rate, it's probably going to be volleyball, but it's still a bit early to tell. Nevertheless, it might be for the best if Iwaizumi also tries to get into the game – volleyball is a team sport and Oikawa is really bratty, so someone needs to make sure that he doesn't piss off all of his teammates.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Ooooh, that looks awesome!"

They're showing the pre-match warm-ups and Oikawa's face is nearly glued to the screen. Iwaizumi thwacks him on the back of his head, and when Oikawa ignores that, he pulls Oikawa further back by the ear. "Did you see that, Iwa-chan?! That serve! Oooh and wow that's a libero! And yeaaah, the setter looks so cool!"

"Calm down, dumbass," Iwaizumi says fondly, but he lets Oikawa inch closer back to the screen. The other's eyesight might be going bad at an early age, so he needs to make sure that Oikawa doesn't plaster his face to the TV screen. "Make sure you don't spill the drinks _again_."

"That was one time! And that was two weeks ago!" Oikawa cried in protest, but Iwaizumi's not about to let the other forget about the _hours_ he spent cleaning the carpet due to Oikawa's over-excited cartwheels (…seriously) that had ended up with some fruit drinks and cola spilled ruthlessly.

"That was one time too many."

"Stingy—oooh, did you see? The serve! That's what they call service aces—so cool!"

Iwaizumi swats Oikawa's grabby hands away, because the other seems intent to pull him just as close to the TV screen. "I can see it just fine, I don't need your commentary."

"I'm going to be like them," Oikawa swears and despite their young age, Iwaizumi knows that Oikawa can do anything he sets his mind into. "I'll be so _awesome_."

Iwaizumi's not that familiar with the positions in volleyball (…yet) but he thinks that a control-freak like Oikawa is probably best to be the one to set things into motion. Oikawa complains a lot, so he's probably not going to be someone who consistently hits hard—so it might be for the best if Iwaizumi will start looking into being a power hitter (What's the term for that in volleyball? Is that the spiker?) to compensate.

"…I thought you're going to be a _king_?" Iwaizumi doesn't ever think it strange that he thinks of the future so certainly as having the two of them together, nor does he find it weird that his plans for the future all involve Oikawa to an overwhelming extent. "And you call me an old man…"

"I didn't forget!" Oikawa huffs and tears his eyes away from the screen to stare at his friend. Oikawa grabs Iwaizumi's unresisting arm so that they can sit closer together, knee-to-knee, shoulder-to-shoulder, ear-to-ear. "I'll be an awesome setter then I'll be a king after!"

"Sounds busy…"

"But Iwa-chan is going to help me do all those things, right?"

Oikawa's always right.

Sometimes, Iwaizumi wants to throttle his friend for being right all the time.

Yet there are also some times – just like now, in the middle of the Iwaizumi family living room, practically glued to the new TV set that Oikawa has adored since day one, surrounded by snacks and more milk bread packets that he can count, with sunlight streaming in from the glass window to the right, inside the house that has probably seen Oikawa more than Iwaizumi's busy parents – times when Iwaizumi just want to squeeze Oikawa's grabby hands and not let go.

And there are also times when—

"Do I even have a choice?"

Iwaizumi asks exasperatedly and when Oikawa just laughs at him before turning his attention back to the screen, Iwaizumi knows that the answer has been decided a long time ago.

And he's satisfied with things remaining that way.

••• [**2020**] •••

"Iwa-chan!"

Oikawa's annoyingly loud voice easily crosses the distance filled with a flood of people: teary-eyed admirers, female teachers that have no business hanging around someone just because he's technically not their student anymore, schoolmates that want to bask in the sphere of popularity generated just by the volleyball captain's mere presence.

Iwaizumi seriously wonders if Oikawa somehow managed to swallow a megaphone without his knowledge, because that voice is freakishly loud. The diploma that Iwaizumi has previously stored away inside his aunt's car (along with Oikawa's) proclaims Iwaizumi smart enough to join an elite group of scholarship students to study an advanced track of medicine, but there are still some things about Oikawa that makes him question his own knowledge about the world's rules.

"What is it, shitty Oikawa?"

There's some (_presumptuous_) protective glaring from one of the girls nestled close to Oikawa's left. She doesn't look familiar, but then again, they all become blurs to his eyes after a while. Oikawa is truly popular amongst everyone and his legion of fangirls is a sight to behold – if only because it's kind of amazing and disheartening to see so many deluded idiots all in one place.

In any case, the glaring girl doesn't seem to be used to seeing and hearing Iwaizumi be honest with Oikawa, so she's most likely an unimportant underclassman.

But then again, he's not as mean as Oikawa claims him to be, so he doesn't glare back.

"Aw, we've just graduated from high school but it's like you haven't managed to upgrade your insult list yet?"

"You want to repeat that, trashykawa?"

"Stop shortening your insults!" Oikawa pouts and huffs, charming everyone within a ten meter radius. Iwaizumi rolls his eyes and flicks the other's forehead. There's a burst of 'that's so mean!' from some of the girls from somewhere on the right.

Despite the whining, Oikawa is the one who actually grabs Iwaizumi by the arm and steers him away from the mini-congregation of Aobajousai students and teachers. With both of their parents unable to make it to their graduation, Iwaizumi's aunt is the only adult who actually family they have who was able to watch the ceremony. Even she can't stay too long, so Iwaizumi's glad that Oikawa's done with his flirting with the entire school.

Once they reach the front gates of the school, Iwaizumi's aunt is pacing frantically, cellphone pressed against her ear. She pauses once she sees them making their way towards her, stress clearly visible on her face. "Hajime! It's _awful_—I need to get going, since one of the factories reported a leak and now they're asking to investigate some building permits, and—"

"Don't worry about us." Iwaizumi reaches out to the two diplomas he left on the back seat. "Thank you for taking some time off your work for us."

"Thank you, auntie!" Oikawa chirps and shakes her hand gently, ever the sparkly gentleman.

"I'm sorry, you two—here," she pushes a thick, white envelope into Iwaizumi's hands, as though the gift of money will be enough to make up for the lack of support from the Iwaizumi family regarding an important milestone like a graduation. "Don't party too much!"

"I'll make sure Iwa-chan doesn't party too much," Oikawa promises easily, dodging the punch that Iwaizumi sends towards his side.

Iwaizumi waits until his aunt and her car disappears from the view before he nudges his shoulder against Oikawa's. The noise level increases bit by bit, signaling that their fellow graduates have already tired of staying cooped inside Aobajousai. It will be mere minutes before the school gates are also flooded by the ceremony's attendees.

"Let's go home first, Iwa-chan~"

Iwaizumi shrugs – he's not particularly excited to go back home, but it will be nice if he can actually get a chance to change out of his sweaty uniform. The ceremony took quite some time and the air-conditioning system wasn't well-equipped to handle the jam-packed auditorium.

They walk back home, shoulders bumping and arms brushing together, despite the hot weather. They stop by the intersection near the convenience store and a few meters away from Matsukawa-san's now-closed flower shop. The light is still red and Iwaizumi's eyes stray to Oikawa's unbuttoned school jacket, the second button suspiciously missing.

Oikawa's mouth is busy running a hundred words a minute, complaining about how long it took for the school dean to finish his speech, about how the shitty air-conditioning made him sweat enough so that his hair didn't look 100% perfect, about how Mizuta-chan and Keiko-chan wore really awful perfumes, about how—

Iwaizumi tunes him out easily, years of practice guiding him. If there's actually something important, Oikawa will be talking about it in a barely-hushed voice, while bodily clinging to him, public place or not.

"Maybe we should really party, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa asks as soon as both them enters Iwaizumi's house. Oikawa changes into the personalized guest house slipper for him, with a shoddy alien cross-stitched into the fabric (the lopsided one on the right is thanks to Oikawa's excitement getting out of hand, while the neater design on the left is thanks to Iwaizumi actually being good with his hands).

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes at Oikawa's stupid suggestion, knowing that there's more than a dozen invitations for some graduation party of some sort buzzing into Oikawa's phone deep inside Iwaizumi's pants' pocket (Oikawa had begged him to look after his phone earlier, after claiming that he might lose his phone and his unbelievably huge selfie collection (plus Iwaizumi) if he had his phone with him during the ceremony).

"We still need to pack," Iwaizumi reminds him sternly, because their graduation gift (an all-expense trip to Hokkaido from Oikawa's parents) is timed to be just before their schedule to go to Tokyo and settle into the student apartment they will be renting together. It will be better if most of their things are already prepared even before the Hokkaido trip less than a week away. Knowing Oikawa, he'll probably attempt to pack his entire house into two sets of suitcases, which will just spell utter chaos.

"We can do that tomorrow! Or even the day after!"

"Do _you_ want to go to a party?"

Iwaizumi figures that he's given Oikawa enough time and space to get his bearings straight. They haven't talked about their loss against Shiratorizawa and Karasuno yet – because college applications, graduation rites, the future, and other things tend to take a lot of time. Oikawa trembles every now and then and Iwaizumi does his best to be the other's support when that happens (it's happening more frequently).

They both plan to play for their university's team – a fairly solid powerhouse that doesn't contain that damn Ushiwaka – especially since Oikawa is planning to go pro. Iwaizumi's playing because Oikawa is – volleyball is still a team sport, freshmen don't become regulars easily, powerful freshmen tend to attract ire and jealousy from others and he needs to make sure that Oikawa integrates to the team without pissing anybody off too much. He plans on retiring from volleyball by second year, because Oikawa is brilliant (as long as he doesn't open his mouth) and he should already be a well-liked and well-respected regular by then. He wouldn't need Iwaizumi to be his support by then. That should give Iwaizumi enough time to catch up and refocus on his studies, because studying to be a doctor is probably going to swallow his life.

Iwaizumi's grades were enough to garner him invitations from respectable universities all over Japan; Oikawa's prominence was enough to secure him scouting offers from powerful universities all over the country. They were lucky that the two different sets of invitations converged on a university that didn't contain Ushiwaka. Iwaizumi carefully doesn't think what would have happened if that wasn't the case. It's too annoying to worry about.

(Oikawa already worried about that enough – something that was already solved by beating some sense into Oikawa's head – how could Oikawa ever think that Iwaizumi even had a choice? Of course they would be together! Iwaizumi would have had no problems with settling for a different university if Oikawa wanted someplace else.)

"Not really," Oikawa murmurs, throwing something into Iwaizumi's direction, before flopping into Iwaizumi's carefully-made bed.

Resisting the urge to kick the other's sweaty body off the bed, Iwaizumi turns over the small, metallic thing that he caught in his hand.

Oikawa's mysteriously-missing second button is in his palm.

"How did you manage to avoid giving this away?"

"Oh~ just this and that~"

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes again and thinks about throwing the button back at the back of Oikawa's head. He thinks twice, and instead places the button on top of his study table, just in front of the framed picture of the two of them from yesterday evening (Oikawa's left arm was slung over Iwaizumi's shoulders, pressing their bodies close enough so that their cheeks rubbed together). The picture inside the frame changes every few days, since Oikawa enjoys wasting the ink on Iwaizumi's printer.

"Are you staying over tonight?"

"Of course!" Iwaizumi's pillows aren't enough to muffle Oikawa's voice. "Let's play that new game you got last week!"

"We need to buy some groceries first—there's no more milk bread in the pantry."

"Okie dokie~"

Iwaizumi changes into something more comfortable, ignoring Oikawa's cries about macho arms and whatnot. They've spent too many years together for him to be affected by the idiot's catcalls, after all. Once done, he reaches into a section of his closet to get a set of clothes that has made their way there after one too many sleepovers.

"You should change too."

"How bold, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa leers, but starts taking off his clothes anyway. "If you wanted me to strip, you should have just said so!"

"If you want to get hit so badly, I'll gladly beat you up," Iwaizumi threatens, but he sits beside Oikawa on his bed anyway.

"Oh, Iwa-chan. Will you ever stop threatening me?"

"Only if you stop being an idiot."

"I'm excited for our trip! I'm sure you'll be lonely, because I'll be surrounded by fans, but try not get too jealous—ow, ow, ow!"

"You're being an idiot again."

"I'll even help you find a cute girl, Iwa-chan! Hey, wait, ow! Stop—ow, it hurts!"

And because Iwaizumi doesn't believe in running away from one's problems, especially since this has gone on long enough: "We'll get Ushiwaka. And Tobio. And that #10 shrimp. And everyone else. Don't worry about it too much."

Oikawa's half-giggly and half-pained laugh stops, leaving defeated silence on its wake.

They haven't talked about it since they lost against Karasuno—Oikawa acted surprisingly mature during the awards ceremony, but he stoically didn't watch any of the succeeding Spring High games afterwards. Iwaizumi had asked his other teammates to record it though, because Oikawa would want to watch high-level matches, no matter how much he wanted to snub his genius setter kouhai.

There were no tears from Oikawa—not until now, at least.

"We were strong. You were strong, Iwa-chan. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you to victory."

Oikawa crying is nothing new to him, because the other cries on a daily basis, but there's always something different and heartbreaking about seeing Oikawa's insecurities laid bare for him to see.

"It's the stronger six that wins. It's just that they have the stronger six during that match. That's all."

Iwaizumi's voice trembles, because he has already gotten over that loss, but he still hasn't recovered from seeing his friend in shambles. He rarely initiates affectionate or gentle touches with Oikawa, but he allows the other to basically crawl into his lap and embrace him like an oversized koala. He doesn't comment on the snot and tears that are now making the front of his shirt wet. He hugs Oikawa back, because he needs to anchor the other down in this world or else he'll drift away.

They're both suspended in this moment – the afternoon sun streams into the room through the half-closed blinds in Iwaizumi's bedroom, the bed soft beneath their tense limbs, the second button that Oikawa had kept away from his fans glimmering slightly from its resting place on Iwaizumi's desk.

"We'll win in Tokyo," Iwaizumi breathes into the miniscule space separating them, waiting until the tremors running all over Oikawa's body subsides. "And _after_ we win, you'll have enough time to be king."

"I can't believe Iwa-chan still remembers that," Oikawa sniffles pitifully, but he's now mostly okay, because he's also obnoxiously blowing snot into Iwaizumi's shirt-sleeve.

"You only remind me every other day," Iwaizumi grumbles and resolves to only let Oikawa cling to him for five more minutes. They still need to decide if they go to one of the many graduation parties tonight or if they will just stay at home and maybe actually watch all of the Spring High videos that are saved on his computer.

"I think Iwa-chan's getting fat," Oikawa comments while lightly poking his stomach, "but that's good because you're more comfortable now."

"Are you saying that I should stop cooking for you then?"

"Noooo, I take it back! Iwa-chan's meals are so good, even if they're making us fat. And they're _free_."

"Stop wriggling—"

"Oho~ did I finally find your ticklish spot?"

"I'm not ticklish, I'm irritated now—oh for fuck's sake, did you have to blow your nose on my shirt? _Really_?"

"Ahaha, Iwa-chan's making such a scary face…" Oikawa backs off and untangles their limbs, chuckling at the annoyed expression.

"_So_? Do _you_ want to go to a party?"

"Hmm, why, Iwa-chan? Are you going to be my chaperone?"

Iwaizumi just cracks his fists in response.

"Well~ we can go to Keiko-chan's party, but that might be too _hip_ for you~"

"…But isn't she best friends with the one who dumped you last month?"

"…Oh. You're actually right for once, Iwa-chan!"

"What do you mean, 'for once'?"

"Still! I can't believe you remembered that!"

Iwaizumi thinks it's even weirder for Oikawa to not remember the people who had flocked to him and dumped him within the same breath, easily falling for the entire genius sportsman package, then easily realizing that he's a bratty, but stubborn, sportsman instead.

"Unlike you, I actually use my head for something other than posing for girls."

"So I guess that means that Keiko-chan's party is a no-go then, huh…" Oikawa barrels on, rummaging around Iwaizumi's bag for his cellphone. It's not difficult to find as it's still vibrating non-stop. Oikawa gets around fifty mails, average, per day – not counting messages from Iwaizumi himself. Iwaizumi idly wonders how they would feel if they knew that Oikawa shared all of his messages with Iwaizumi and most of the time gets him to answer messages on his behalf too. "How about Makki-chan's?"

"I don't think he's holding one though?"

"He just texted me—_oh_, he's furious that he's getting hounded by my fans for my location."

"Don't you dare tell him you're at my house," Iwaizumi thwacks the other warningly on his head, because the last thing he wants is for an army of fangirls dirtying his doorstep.

Oikawa shoots him an amused look, fiddling with his cellphone and possibly deleting a ton of messages, unread. "Iwa-chan, Makki-chan isn't stupid, you know."

"We can start packing, you know."

"I kn_oooo_w, but I don't want to." Oikawa buries his head against the alien-shaped pillow that has been a permanent resident of Iwaizumi's bed ever since Oikawa has lugged it along with his pajamas countless sleepovers ago. "Let's just watch some movies later and order some pizza or something."

Iwaizumi rolls his shoulders as he thinks of the best activity to handle Oikawa's mood-swings.

Inside this room that has been their sanctuary for many years, everything seems safe. They will both head out to an entirely new world in just a few weeks – together – but he doesn't feel any uncertainty. It's most likely because he _knows_ they'll be together, but it's still probably weird to everyone else.

His parents didn't say anything about his chosen path – and it's not like they could have changed his mind, even if they had attempted to. They had spent most of their time buried in work, as high-level government clerks that earned more than enough to buy Iwaizumi all of the new gadgets and games that caught Oikawa's curious eyes.

They hadn't been there for most of Iwaizumi's life – not when he first successfully caught a stag beetle that ended up flying into Oikawa's nose once he had set it free, not when he had first spiked a volleyball right into an obnoxious Oikawa's face, not when he had first been dragged unwillingly into Oikawa's first date with the student council president when they were in middle school, not when he had first realized that Oikawa was going to destroy his own body in pursuit of his dream to rule the volleyball world if he wasn't there to stop his stupidity.

They hadn't been there for him the way Oikawa had been – that's why they couldn't have been able to say anything that could have swayed his decision from pursuing a medical degree with the intent of being a doctor great enough to keep Oikawa's body in top shape no matter what loss or victory came his way.

It hasn't been a choice for him for quite some time.

Iwaizumi hasn't felt that it's something that needed a choice for a very long time.

Iwaizumi exhales and grabs his phone, dials the number to the local pizza parlor, and tosses the phone to Oikawa's head. Oikawa complains, as always, but he takes the phone anyway and starts rattling off what is probably the entire menu.

"Iwa-chan's such a gentleman," Oikawa teases him when he just shrugs off the pricey total for the order. Oikawa tends to eat a lot when he's stressed and Iwaizumi can already foresee his eyes getting burned by a marathon of the soap operas that Oikawa enjoys watching because he's an idiot and because he likes pushing Iwaizumi's buttons as far as he can.

Oikawa gets up and disappears for more than five minutes—at this point in their friendship, Iwaizumi had long stopped fearing Oikawa would set his house on fire whenever he disappeared. For one, Oikawa will not risk getting soot on his face. Also, half of his alien paraphernalia are stashed here and his entire alien-movie collection is here as well – if only because Oikawa loves watching his beloved B-movies on the home theater system that Iwaizumi's father had installed as a present for getting into Aobajousai.

But then again, leaving Oikawa alone for too long is never good for anyone involved.

Iwaizumi gets up as well and goes to the expanded living room—Oikawa's already there, munching on some of the sea-salt caramel ice cream that Iwaizumi remembers buying because Oikawa had previously off-handedly commented on how he would like to find something in that flavor that he actually liked. The TV screen is split into four screens and Oikawa's playing with the controls, since the displays cycle erratically. Iwaizumi's eye catches something about the basketball championships, about some ongoing civil war somewhere far from them, about an interview with the national team, about a special on the rising singing group, about the new laws that will be passed about stricter environmental regulations, about some unsolved abduction cases, about a music video from a Korean boyband—before Oikawa finally settles on a rerun of an old English movie with subtitles.

Iwaizumi's English is much better than Oikawa's, but even he's having a hard time understanding without referring to the subtitles.

"It's '_The Usual Suspects_'," Oikawa says the title, but his pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired. "It's about—"

"I know what it's about," Iwaizumi interrupts before Oikawa can try to bullshit his way into discussing the movie, "_I _did the movie review on this—which you shamelessly copied, you little shit."

"Ahahaha, you sure know how to remember things like that. It's fine—Kai-sensei didn't read our assignments anyway."

Iwaizumi's aware of that, but he hits Oikawa on the arm for that anyway.

"I look forward to copying more homework from you, Iwa-chan~"

Oikawa's smile is—

It's gentle, but also cunning on the edges, complimenting his eyes that are widened to achieve an innocent look that doesn't work on Iwaizumi, but still looks affectionate. There are still tear-tracks that aren't fully swiped away from his cheeks.

—_devastating_.

"Do I even have a choice?"

Heart racing, Iwaizumi asks him exasperatedly and when Oikawa just laughs at him before turning his attention back to the screen, Iwaizumi knows that it has really stopped being a choice a long time ago.

And he's satisfied with things remaining that way.

After all, Iwaizumi (was, is, always) will be

••• [**2027**] •••

"Iwa-chan!"

There are probably fifty people inside the gym their team is using, with a huge majority also possessing similar brown hair, but Iwaizumi doesn't have any problems locating Oikawa, no thanks to the unnecessarily loud voice and annoyingly cheerful wave.

Unlike other days when Iwaizumi had to forcibly cover Oikawa's mouth with his hands just to stop the other from causing a commotion, today Oikawa seems content to just wave enthusiastically at him while remaining seated on one of the long benches, nobody else daring to sit beside him despite the available space. Iwaizumi frowns and walks faster—something's _wrong_.

There are new people each time (almost every day) Iwaizumi drops by and fetches the team's ace setter to make sure that he doesn't exceed his allowed quota of practice time. There are always people who stared at the transformation of their oh-so-cool-ace (Oikawa's words, not his) to a five-year-old that seems to enjoy getting scolded and hit by someone who doesn't even play in the same league, much less exist in the same sphere.

"Iwa-chan, let's go try that new restaurant—"

"Did you hurt you knee?"

—_Again_?

"It's—"

"Iwaizumi-san," Assistant Coach Matsukawa acknowledges his presence and the collective confused look on the new people's faces fade slightly, "we had to rest him after the first set, because he appeared to be favoring his right knee."

"And when were you planning on telling me?" Iwaizumi directs his question and his glare towards Oikawa, who has the gall to chuckle sheepishly.

"I was going to! After our dinner! Because I'm hungry, Iwa-chan. Do you want me to starve? How cruel!"

Iwaizumi resists the urge to punch Oikawa – not only do the newcomers look very impressionable, but with the rapid-fire deflections from Oikawa, that knee must be really _hurting_ right now. He can scold and hit Oikawa once he's sure that it won't cause him further pain. Oikawa's stupid, but he becomes worse whenever he faces off with that damn Ushiwaka. Oikawa told him about the practice match, which is why he hurried here right after his shift, but it seems that he was too late because Oikawa's teammates are too cowed by his bullshit aura.

"Let's just go."

Oikawa's bags are already packed and he waves cheerfully at his teammates as he exits the gym, offering no explanation for Iwaizumi's presence – it's either they dubbed him as their ace's poor caretaker or they were too unimportant to actually know. There's no practice for Oikawa tomorrow and Iwaizumi has a day off tomorrow too, their schedules synchronized as it has been since they first met.

They don't go to that new restaurant, because right after they exit the gym, Oikawa leans his weight against Iwaizumi. He's limping and Iwaizumi grits his teeth as he guide Oikawa to the taxi bay so they can grab a cab to the nearest hospital. Iwaizumi's mentees are still there because they need to show that they're dedicated to work or something like that, so they will probably be able to get Oikawa attended to within just a few minutes.

Everything's a blur in front of him – he barely notices the way his knuckles whitened with pressure as he held Oikawa's hands all throughout the taxi ride, he only faintly registers Takao-san's surprised gasp at seeing him back at the hospital and with a patient this time, he doesn't even remember Oikawa going through X-Rays to check the extent of the damage to his knee. When he comes to his senses, Oikawa's already in front of him, smile strained but no wheelchairs or crutches in sight.

"You're such a worrywart, Iwa-chan."

"Would ever stop doing stupid shit, shittykawa?"

"I feel so _loved_."

Oikawa sticks his tongue out and makes a gesture that makes Iwaizumi grumble, but he can indulge the other today. He takes Oikawa's outstretched hand in his, keeps Oikawa's hand inside his coat's pocket as they line up to pay for the fees for the check-up and the painkillers, keeps Oikawa's hands with him still as they take another cab ride, this time back to the apartment that they've shared for the past couple of years.

"_We_'re home~"

They chorus as they enter the foyer – Iwaizumi's exhausted tone clashing against Oikawa's forced cheerfulness – and Oikawa limps past the living room and straight into Iwaizumi's bed. Iwaizumi follows him at a more leisurely pace, picking up the pieces of clothing that Oikawa has removed on his way, as well as some of the knick-knacks that Oikawa has knocked over in the process of making his way to the bedroom.

A thin layer of dust is starting to gather on the places that they rarely use – Oikawa's training is getting more hectic while Iwaizumi's shifts are erratic at best. They still make time for each other, but it's definitely different from the inseparability that they've enjoyed before.

Nevertheless, Iwaizumi still knows Oikawa best. Iwaizumi takes a little detour and opens the TV to a random channel and mutes it (there's a vaguely familiar face on the screen as the headline marquee on the bottom part of the screen declares that there are more factory leaks recently and the investigators are stumped as to why it's all happening _now_). Oikawa would want to watch the news for any reports on their practice match from earlier today, so Iwaizumi presses a few more buttons to record the news. After that, Iwaizumi drops by the pantry to grab two bottles of the apple iced tea that Oikawa's endorsing, plus two packets of his favorite milk bread.

Oikawa's half-lying down on the bed, back flat against the bed and the soles of his feet resting on the carpeted floor. "Iwa-chan?"

"Here you go," Iwaizumi presses the cool edge of the iced tea can to Oikawa's forehead, condensation mixing with the sweat that's mostly due to the frustration that he's undoubtedly feeling.

"Iced tea with my face on it and milk bread… you sure know how to make me special, Iwa-chan."

"Got any complaints?"

"Absolutely none," Oikawa breathes out with a laugh, sitting up on the bed. Iwaizumi will not protest if Oikawa wants to eat in _his_ bed tonight, as long as Oikawa's they'll actually switch beds for the night too.

The human body is a curious thing.

Oikawa's knee will probably give out completely if he plays a full set against Ushiwaka's team next week. Oikawa knows that fact too well, Iwaizumi knows that too, because he's the one who had ordered the tests to be done in the first place.

The human mind is a curious thing.

Oikawa's brilliant life as a professional volleyball player is about to end, and there will be waves of young players that will take the country and the world by storm. Oikawa's more restless recently, going against coach's orders to not stay too late practicing, going against common sense telling him that there's no point if he becomes the strongest if he can't play due to an injury.

The human heart is a curious thing.

Oikawa's love for victory, for his dreams to come true, is consuming him. Iwaizumi lets him do as he wishes, as much as possible, because while he needs to take care of this crybaby, he also respects the other's hunger for the victory that has eluded him for more than ten years now.

"Let's watch a movie, Iwa-chan," Oikawa smiles, knees trembling ever so slightly as he stands, leaving the empty wrappers and half-full can on the floor, knowing that Iwaizumi will clean up after him anyway. "We both have a day off tomorrow, right?"

Iwaizumi grumbles about not wanting to watch a chick flick after listening to non-stop, high-pitched crying from his patients earlier today. Just for that comment, he's pretty sure that Oikawa will pick up an extraordinarily overdramatic film, just to piss him off. Dissatisfaction with the movie selection aside, he still lets Oikawa lean against him as they both make their way to the living room, with the news program still recording. Oikawa doesn't comment on the flashing red of their recorder nor does he comment on the stream of muted news that details one tragedy after another.

Both their cellphones are in Iwaizumi's briefcase – away from both of them, isolating them from the rest of the world, creating a world of their own. Their world for now is their one-bedroom apartment with two single beds, with a beanbag couch unhealthily close to the wall-mounted TV screen, a pantry filled with Oikawa's addiction to milk bread and a slew of products that he has endorsed, a glass cabinet filled with trophies and medals that they have both earned over the years, an office desk filled with Iwaizumi's studies and research.

"We shouldn't stay up too late."

"Why? Iwa-chan's such an old man now~"

"_You_ wanted to go and watch the sunrise, right?"

"Ugh, you're right for once, Iwa-chan…"

"What do you mean, 'for once'?"

"Cook the mushroom omelet for me tomorrow, okay?" Oikawa fiddles with the remote, channel surfing until he reaches the movie channel. "Oh, and I want to try a fluffy pancake too, so make that for me too!"

"Glutton," Iwaizumi comments just loud enough for the other to hear, nudging the other's (unhurt) left knee so he can also sit comfortably on the couch. He's not sure why he bothers, after years of experiencing Oikawa who blatantly disregards personal space, he knows that the other will just stretch in odd positions over the couch and lean exaggeratedly close against him.

"After breakfast, I need to buy some new shirts." Oikawa rests his cheek against Iwaizumi's right shoulder, uncaring that he's pushing some his hair right up there to Iwaizumi's nose. "You have awful fashion sense, so I should also buy you some stuff."

"Aren't you a little too old for dress-up?"

"How mean! Don't you trust my fashion sense?"

"No."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm very stylish!"

"Says who?''

"Says everyone!"

"That's stupid. You're stupid, stupid Oikawa."

"Don't you know any other insults, Iwa-chan?"

"Stupidkawa."

"Not like that!"

The TV screen flickers with some strange static for a moment, but they don't pay attention to it, too busy arguing and lightly shoving each other in the cramped couch.

"Do you ever regret it, Iwa-chan?"

"What are you on now?"

"Do you ever regret following me?"

"Who said there was following involved?"

Iwaizumi returns the squeeze on his hands and he generously doesn't comment on the other's sweaty palms.

"Your mother sent me mail earlier today, Iwa-chan. She's still mad about you taking up medicine instead of following them. She's still furious that 'I took you away'."

"I told you to ignore her and to change your number, right?"

"Iwa-chan—"

"You're an amazing setter now. You've been for a long time." Iwaizumi lets his head fall sideways, stopped by Oikawa's face on his shoulder. He keeps their heads pressed close together, their clasped hands in-between them. The program on TV goes on and on, but their world has narrowed again, only leaving the two of them. "You're still going to become king, right? I need to be there to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"It's…It's s-strange to hear Iwa-chan be s-so nice. Am I d-dreaming?"

"You're such a crybaby."

"Am not!"

"Heh."

Iwaizumi doesn't pay attention the movie and he watches Oikawa instead – laughs at each time Oikawa gasps from the plot twist, chuckles at each time Oikawa cheers on the story's protagonist, grins at each time Oikawa's hands twitch in his.

By the time the movie ends, it's already past their dinnertime, so Iwaizumi just makes them a light meal and a cup of hot chocolate overflowing with marshmallows (one of Oikawa's favorite drinks when he's stressed). Oikawa calls him a housewife and he pinches the other's cheek in retaliation.

They eat quickly, Oikawa relating stories from earlier today that don't involve Ushiwaka's presence. Right after, Iwaizumi fills the tub with warm water and bath salts so Oikawa can take a bath first and keep him away from the kitchen so he can do the dishes in peace. (The last time Oikawa had attempted to help Iwaizumi do the dishes, he had to spend an hour picking up the pieces broken ceramic, plus another hour to placate the teary-eyed Oikawa who stupidly walked into a shard. Not happening again.)

Iwaizumi reminds Oikawa to brush his teeth properly as they meet on the bathroom (Oikawa loves indulging in sweets and Iwaizumi doesn't feel it prudent if he also has to study dentistry to keep Oikawa's teeth healthy). They have spent many years together for it to be awkward: Oikawa brushing his teeth on the sink while Iwaizumi prepares to take a bath, only a thin shower curtain between the two of them. Other people have offered their unsolicited comments on how strange it is for two grown men to spend so much time together. It might be because he grew up with Oikawa, but he doesn't understand their concern, so he ignores them as politely as he can.

A single bed is already cramped enough for someone of his build, but it's even crowded with Oikawa shamelessly draped over him.

"Did you set the alarm?"

"I did, Iwa-chan!"

Iwaizumi reaches to his bedside table and makes sure, because this won't be the first time that Oikawa's genius setter and leadership skills have failed to translate in simple, everyday tasks like setting an alarm. (The last time Iwaizumi had trusted Oikawa to do that task, they had both ended up three hours late to practice, arriving to an angry coach that had scolded them for partying too hard the night before, arriving to a group of leering teammates that had teased them for spending so much time together that Oikawa had ended up wearing one of Iwaizumi's shirts that even had his name.)

"Don't you trust me?"

"I don't."

"That's too harsh!"

"I want to eat Iwa-chan's omelet so I'll make sure you wake up early!"

"A selfish glutton."

"Hey! It's not my fault you're a great cook!"

Oikawa's pouty lips brush against his collarbone as the other makes himself comfortable without a care for Iwaizumi's discomfort at the suffocating closeness. Oikawa's sly, because he knows that no matter how violent Iwaizumi can be, he'll hold himself back against an injured person.

"Just go to sleep, dumbass Oikawa."

"Let's have fun tomorrow, ne? I know! I'll be king tomorrow and you have to follow all of my orders!"

Iwaizumi can't even remember the last time he had defied Oikawa, in the sense that he did something to Oikawa's detriment. Iwaizumi looks at Oikawa's smiling face that will end up drooling all over him later on, burns the image to his mind to calm his nerves before he sleeps.

"Do I even have a choice?"

Iwaizumi asks exasperatedly, fondly, gently, and when Oikawa just laughs at him before nosing against his neck, Iwaizumi knows that he has chosen a very long time ago.

And he's satisfied with things remaining that way.

After all, Iwaizumi (was, is, will) always be Oikawa's knight.

••• [**2027 – **the morning after] •••

"Iwa-chan…"

He always had a loud voice – Iwa-chan had always scolded him for never knowing to turn his voice down. But he knows how to! It's just that most times when he's with Iwa-chan, he didn't know how to control himself.

"Iwa-chan…"

He never had a problem getting anyone's attention. He never had a problem getting Iwa-chan come his way. He never had a problem with Iwa-chan, despite his mean attitude, violent actions and gentle affections that other people had always scoffed at.

"Iwa-chan…"

He hears some voices surrounding him, but he knows Iwa-chan's voice and he's not with them and what use does he have for a world that doesn't have Iwa-chan?

He feels a sting in his eyes – a sting on his knees – a sting on his forearm. He's crying, just like the crybaby that he is, but this time, there's no Iwa-chan by his side holding his hand, teasing his tears, holding a tissue so he can blow his nose. He's kneeling in terror on the ground, putting pressure on his right knee despite the doctor's orders to avoid stressing his knee further before his scheduled surgery, because he doesn't have his strength with him. He's hyperventilating and the people surrounding him don't know him like Iwa-chan does, so they try to make him fall asleep in an effort to calm him down, the drug injected already causing his vision to blur even more.

They're supposed to enjoy their day-off. They're supposed to go back home and they're supposed to play the game that Iwa-chan bought and they're supposed to wash the new clothes that he bought and they're supposed to eat the meal that Iwa-chan had bought ingredients for and they're supposed to fall asleep on the couch while watching the sequel to the drama that Oikawa loved and they're supposed to be _together_.

News channels are filled with reports of how there's a huge disk-like Unidentified Flying Object approaching Tokyo airspace from the Pacific Ocean, of how there's an explosion on the largest chemical treatment facility in Kanagawa, of how there's a sudden elevation of carbon monoxide concentration in the atmosphere, of how there are various explosions from a group of high-rise apartment buildings. Those news don't matter to him, because the only reality that matters to him at this point is that the mall they're in has suddenly exploded in a blur of heat and noise and one moment, his cold hands are secured inside Iwa-chan's jacket, and then Iwa-chan had to go to the bathroom and Oikawa had wanted to look at one of the displays of the store near the bathroom and they had parted and they're supposed to meet each other just outside the restroom after five minutes tops and they're supposed to be _together._

There are hands that grab him by his armpits, bodily dragging him away from the debris of the restroom that kept on spouting charred remains of the ones who had the misfortune of wanting to pee during this shocking development.

His life as a professional volleyball player is drawing to a close, and his life as a model will soon follow, because fresh faces are still loads better than his, especially since he's a setter that has never won against Ushiwaka and the combination of the cheeky Tobio-chan and #10 shrimp. That phase of his life is over, but that's okay because he still has Iwa-chan with him and Iwa-chan told him that he has contacted Seijou so he can try out as a coach there and Iwa-chan-Iwa-chan-Iwa-chan—

"You chose to be with me, right, Iwa-chan?" His throat feels raw and painful, but that's nothing compared to the coil in his gut that threatens to burst out of himself. "You can't leave me, Iwa-chan…Oh, is this a game? Is this hide-and-seek? You didn't have to blow things up to find a hiding place, Iwa-chan… didn't you know? The awesome me is great at finding people! I can find you, easy! Don't drag this game out too much, okay? You still have to cook that lasagna recipe that we found and I'm starting to get hungry… Iwa-chan… you know what, can we play next time? I'm starting to get sleepy…"

—_"Once I am king, you'll be my knight and you'll bully everyone for me, right? ... And you'll protect me and kill all the bugs, then give me milk bread every day and then guard me while I sleep."_

How can he become king if Iwa-chan is dead?

They're supposed to be _together_.

Today, Oikawa Tooru's world comes to an end.

••• [_**the world without end**_] •••

••• END: "the world without end", part one of the "the world without" series •••  
>••• NEXT: "the world without light" – While searching for Iwaizumi's body, Oikawa becomes the Dark King •••<p> 


End file.
